Redefining Indian Poverty
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 04 October 2011, 03:10 IST   |    19 Comments
Printer Print Email Email
India Poor
The Planning Commissions surprising finding in the form of an affidavit could not have come at a worse time when the country's poor masses are struggling hard to survive the increasing food inflation. In an open letter to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, The Right to Food Campaign demanded the Commission to explain how the controversial per capita poverty line expenditure of 25 per day in rural and 32 per day in urban area could be normatively 'adequate', reports The Hindu. The campaign also questioned Commission's argument that the poverty line had no relationship to food subsidy citing that fund allocations for many government programs such Public Distribution System and pensions are based on poverty ratios. The commission has allegedly avoided the key issue of 'why should there be a poverty line that determines the Below Poverty Line "caps" and to re-consider the poverty line'.